Willoughby Returns
by Izabella
Summary: This is an alternate ending for S&S. It's goofy and satirical. One shot.


**A/N: I wrote this for a Jane Austen seminar I took last year in school. It's pretty goofy. It starts off during Marianne's illness, when Willoughby comes to the Dashwood's house to see if she's alright. At the end is an explanation of what I was trying to do with the story. I had to write the explanation for the seminar, and I thought I might as well tack it onto the end of here. Tell me what you think! Oh yeah, all the characters are Jane Austen's and the quotes are from the text of Sense & Sensibility...I think the Penguin edition, though I wouldn't put money on it. **

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Willoughby Returns

"Good bye, – God bless you!'

And with these words, he almost ran out of the room" (310). In fact he would have succeeded completely in running out of the room if the formidable figure of Mrs. Dashwood, accompanied by her weeping daughter Margaret, had not been blocking the doorway. Willoughby was too drunk to be capable of any more acknowledgement of the ladies than a mere nod of his head. After doing so he slid through the door and went outside, vaguely noting to himself how much older and like her sister Marianne, Margaret had grown.

Mrs. Dashwood, in her desperate concern for her daughter, scarcely noticed Willoughby's awkward departure, much less the absurdity of his even being there to begin with. As soon as he was gone she rushed "with no voice for even Elinor" into Marianne's chamber to verify that she was still alive (312). Elinor and Margaret followed. Once Mrs. Dashwood was safely assured that her daughter would survive at least the night, she collapsed onto a chair by the bed, exhaling deeply. Whereas Elinor would not have dreamed of leaving her sister's side, for Margaret, the endless hours of sitting soon grew unbearably tedious. She waited until she was sure that all three women were soundly sleeping and then quietly tiptoed outside into the gardens. The tame garden flowers were of little interest to her though, and before long she left them in pursuit of a good climbing tree. She soon found the perfect one and was about to mount it when she tripped over a dark lump, which promptly squirmed and belched loudly.

"Marianne!" it cried, looking up at her with wonder.

"Mr. Willoughby! What are you doing here?"

She helped him to his feet, explaining gently that she was Margaret, not Marianne. Willoughby did not seem to comprehend her.

"Marianne, I am truly wretched! I beg you to accompany me on a short walk – I have so much to explain. Great God! If you could but know how much I love you," he exclaimed passionately.

And so he dragged her away, Margaret lacking the physical power to resist, and, truth be told, the willpower to withstand Willoughby's charm. She had always esteemed Marianne with something even stronger than fervent admiration, and though it was wrong, she persuaded herself there would be no harm in letting him continue his mistake a bit longer…

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One Year Later

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Marianne Dashwood did not even look up from the piano when Colonel Brandon arrived. He bowed to her nonetheless and then walked over to Elinor, who was tending to a small whining baby. Its mother, Margaret, was staring listlessly out the window, scarcely aware of anyone.

"How do you do, Colonel?" Elinor politely asked.

"I wondered if you might take a quick turn about the garden with me."

Elinor obeyed, handing the baby to Mrs. Dashwood who had just entered the room.

"There is an important matter I need to discuss with you," he said solemnly as soon as they were out of doors.

"What is it?"

"You know how highly I have always esteemed you. I admire you more than anyone, and I feel somehow already a part of your family. Miss Dashwood – I know this may seem strange to you, but I really feel it my duty to look after your family, and if I were to become legally a part of it, my aiding powers would be monumentally enhanced. For this reason I have come here today to ask for your hand in matrimony."

Elinor gaped at him for a moment. Fortunately she soon regained her composure.

"I understand you, sir, but what about my sister? Have you completely ceased to care for her?"

Of course he had not. After Margaret's unfortunate experience he had vowed to devote his life to helping the Dashwoods. He felt the easiest way to do this would be to marry one of them so he would have a good excuse for giving them all his money. Ideally, of course, he would marry Marianne, but he eventually began to realize that she would always love Willoughby. For this reason, along with his genuine admiration of her, he decided upon Elinor, hoping that a life of rigorous attendance to the Dashwoods' well-being would force him to stifle the sorrow of unrequited love.

"It is of little consequence either way, Miss Dashwood," he sadly replied, "Her heart will always belong to Another. But never mind Marianne. What do _you_ say?"

Elinor considered the proposal for a moment. Colonel Brandon was doubtlessly the most honorable man in her acquaintance. She felt eternally indebted to him for the kind attentions he had bestowed upon the whole family after Margaret's disgrace. She did not love him; it was true. But Edward had long since been married to Lucy, although there were numerous accounts of her frequent brutal beatings of him. Also she was growing older, and there were few gentlemen who would even associate with their family after its recent shame. What finally convinced her, though, was propriety. Elinor was frankly too polite to refuse him. She gave her consent and they were married within the month.

For quite some time the Dashwoods and the Brandons went about their daily business in the usual way with seldom any greater excitement to rescue them from their melancholy tedium than the occasional violent tantrums from Margaret, Marianne, or even Mrs. Dashwood. One day, however, they were all gathered at Barton when suddenly the door swung open and a servant announced the arrival of Mr. John Willoughby. Marianne's book fell from her hands, Margaret nearly dropped her baby, Mrs. Dashwood burst into a fit of hysterics, and Colonel Brandon grew very pale and clenched his teeth. Only Elinor was able to maintain a decent level of composure. She welcomed him with moderate coldness. Margaret was less civil; she began viciously mumbling under her breath, and though no one could actually comprehend what she was saying, there was no doubt in any of their minds that her words were not benevolently intended.

"_Margaret!_" Elinor hissed, "Contain yourself! Please sit down, Mr. Willoughby."

They had all thought when he fled the country after impregnating Margaret they would be rid of him forever. Even when they heard of the untimely death of his wife, they did not imagine in a million years that he would ever have the audacity to show his face in their presence again. But here he was, handsome as ever, sitting in their very parlor as if nothing had ever happened.

"I know there is no person in the world you despise more than me, or who more rightfully deserves your abhorrence," he began, looking into Marianne's eyes. "But I beg you, from the bottom of my heart, to hear me out."

Marianne looked up at him, her eyes wild and her cheeks flushed, the old sensation pouring back into her. This was encouragement enough for Willoughby.

"When I saw Miss Margaret in the dark on that woeful night, I was not myself. I was distraught with fear for your life, with my own personal guilt for having lost you, with drunkenness, and most of all, with love. My emotions were so powerful that I mistook Miss Margaret for you, Marianne, which led me to commit my abominable sin. You must believe me when I tell you that all of my actions, whether good or bad, were guided solely by my undying love for you. I went abroad so abruptly because even to be in the same country as any Dashwoods made me the most miserable, guilty creature in the world. But now I have returned to humbly beg your forgiveness, though I know there is none less deserving of it than I."

Apart from Colonel Brandon, who immediately withdrew from the room to vomit, the remainder of the party sat silently, their minds open and their hearts warmed. Marianne was the first to speak.

"So…you have never stopped loving me in all this time?"

He declared he had not.

"Upon my word," cried Elinor, "I thought nothing in the world could atone for your shocking behavior towards poor Margaret, but this changes everything! Your actions were guided solely by love of Marianne! I am speechless with relief."

"The same cannot be said for me," said Mrs. Dashwood beamingly. "Although I am relieved and the happiest woman on Earth, God has not left me without speech. Welcome back to the family, Mr. Willoughby."

Willoughby smiled and walked over to Marianne, who was now crying softly. He bowed down before her and took her hand in his.

"I have been much delayed in doing this, and for that I sincerely apologize. Marianne, will you marry me?"

Marianne was now sobbing. She looked over at Margaret for permission. Margaret eagerly nodded her head in assent, and so, Marianne Dashwood and Mr. Willoughby were married at the end of the fortnight – "and among the merits and the happiness of Elinor and Marianne, let it not be ranked as the least considerable, that though sisters, and living fairly close to each other, they could live without disagreement between themselves, though they did produce severe coolness between their husbands" (353).

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My main object in rewriting the ending was, through gross exaggeration, to illuminate some of the faults of the characters. Elinor has been abused by critics for placing too much weight on propriety – for willingly sacrificing her own happiness for the sake of petty social conventions. In order to illustrate this weakness I had her marry Colonel Brandon, a man whom she esteems greatly but does not truly love. She accepts him in part because she feels immense gratitude towards him for his kindness to her family, but also because she thinks it is the only polite option. Colonel Brandon has been described as being almost too perfect, of having an unnatural tendency to go out of his way to fix everyone's lives around him (consider his behavior towards both Eliza's and his offering Edward a living). For this reason I had him marry Elinor, a woman for whom he feels nothing stronger than general respect, simply so that he could be of help to Margaret, to whom he owes nothing. Marianne has been criticized for unreasonable levels of sensibility and for her stubborn adherence to girlish fantasies of true, never-ending love. Although she does begin to grow out of this towards the end of the novel, I thought I would give her a relapse in order to highlight the ridiculousness of her previous sensibility-guided actions. Margaret, though she is not a main character, is characterized by having "imbibed a good deal of Marianne's romance, without having much of her sense" (9). This abundance of sensibility combined with a profound lack of sense, I felt, would make her an easy target for Willoughby's charms. All of the Dashwoods in general have a history of too readily forgiving Willoughby. Admittedly the idea of them forgiving him for impregnating Margaret is a bit farfetched; however, I thought that having them do so would demonstrate the absurdity of their even forgiving him earlier in the novel for his abandonment of Marianne. I also mentioned briefly Edward's forbearance in his marriage to Lucy despite her domestic abuse of him in order to point out the preposterous ill-treatment he would be willing to endure before gaining the courage to break it off. My ending probably is not as "sensible" as Jane Austen's; however, my intention in writing it was not to create a more realistic conclusion, but to illustrate in somewhat of an exaggerated fashion the faults that many of the characters exhibited throughout the novel. 


End file.
